Resource Management games?

Hi, I'm in the mood to play a resource management game on the side of my current ME2 playthrough / 1 day a week WoW raiding. Other than the likes of Sim City and Tropico, it's hard to find well reviewed resource management games. It's a plus if it's on Steam, or any other digital distribution (such as download from their site), but not a requirement.

What I might look for:
* Where I build up resources / an empire with an avatar, or have a more off the side type of manager role (like in Football Manager type games, Sim City, etc).
* It can be realistic, set in medieval times, fantasy, or sci-fi. Doesn't matter where or when.
* It doesn't matter if I spawn with a boat, a shuttle, or just a guy trading resources.
* It doesn't matter if it's 10 years old. If it's awesome, it's awesome.

I think you get the picture. If it's about building the biggest goat farm, and it's a good game, I'm interested. I just want my resource management "fix". Any suggestions?

Yeah, I enjoyed a lot of the Tower Defence maps available on battle.net, but I'm not looking for an RTS game, which is a completely different genre from what I'm looking for. I do enjoy the game, just not what I'm looking for right now.

Lets say you have a two 3 inch lines. One is all red and the other is 48% red and 52% blue. Does that mean there's a 50-50 chance they're both red or is the second line matching the all red line by 48%?

Defense Grid has a minor resource management dynamic to it.
Tower defense game though, but you mentioned earlier in the thread you liked that sort of thing.
Damn good game either way if you haven't played it.

Yes, most definitely. Got any suggestions? I remember a few years back there was a game called the Fringe, or some such, it peaked my interest but I never got around testing it.

Originally Posted by bals

Lords of the Realm 1 and 2
Pretty old though

Thank you, I'll look into them.

Originally Posted by Some Random Guy

perhaps the Civilization games? Not entirely sure what you do exactly as I've spent about 5 mins with one of them, But I think it's about building up an empire?

Yeah, the Civ games are awesome. I've played them to death, however. But they're in the line of what I'm looking for, so it was a good suggestion.

Originally Posted by Mihnt

Defense Grid has a minor resource management dynamic to it.
Tower defense game though, but you mentioned earlier in the thread you liked that sort of thing.
Damn good game either way if you haven't played it.

Thanks, I'll look into Defense Grid.

Originally Posted by Klontjes

Try the ANNO series, they're more or less about managing your recources for the best income and there are some city planning elements involved aswell.

I remember playing one a few years back, something about having a pirate ship and going from harbor to harbor, and/or engaging in sea warefare. I enjoyed the game very much, I'll definitely see if there are any later iterations.

---
Games I look for is in the line of Theme Hospital/Park, Civilization / Alpha Centauri, the Total War series, Harvest Moon (if anyone remembers that game?), Sim City, etc etc. Just so you have a better baseline on what to recommend.

Yes, most definitely. Got any suggestions? I remember a few years back there was a game called the Fringe, or some such, it peaked my interest but I never got around testing it.

X3 comes to mind, also EVE is similar if you want an mmo. There's a few more in the sandbox-space sim genre, but I don't know if they're what you're looking for specifically.

Originally Posted by Wells

Lets say you have a two 3 inch lines. One is all red and the other is 48% red and 52% blue. Does that mean there's a 50-50 chance they're both red or is the second line matching the all red line by 48%?

Yeah, the Civ games are awesome. I've played them to death, however. But they're in the line of what I'm looking for, so it was a good suggestion.

Aw, I don't see civ games so much as resource management. Well 3/4/5 at least. Maybe cause I just casually play them though. In that case I would recommend master of orion 2 and master of magic (never played this one personally but it was made by the same company and I always hear people raving about it).

Heroes of might and magic 3 is a must as well, forgot to mention that eariler.

All these games are pretty old, but the graphics are done in a way to where they don't look completely awful.

I remember playing one a few years back, something about having a pirate ship and going from harbor to harbor, and/or engaging in sea warefare. I enjoyed the game very much, I'll definitely see if there are any later iterations.

The newest one is Anno 2070, which is in my opinion the best one in the series if you're not afraid of a bit of sci-fi (some people were put off by the future setting, but gameplay wise I think it's the best one).

A few years ago i used to play bloody O-Game. Don't know if that game is still alive, but if it is, you can manage resources 24/7 There's not much more to it, though. I quit because i spend loads of time looking at databases in my rl job.

I remember playing one a few years back, something about having a pirate ship and going from harbor to harbor, and/or engaging in sea warefare. I enjoyed the game very much, I'll definitely see if there are any later iterations.

The game your thinking of is called East India Trading Game and I only very recently discovered it, great for a few nights play quite addictive once you get started. But once you get the hang of trading though diplomacy etc. its quite easy.

I would also suggest Anno, I prefer the previous version rather than 2700 but both have their merits. Also I know this is way out of what you originally asked for but I would really suggest Company Of Heroes, it's a good game, not much resource management but hours of fun with all it's modes.

I've heard great things about Tropico 4, especially relating it to SimCity.. That's the only other resource managing game besides SimCity I can think of... but if you haven't tried SimCity 2k, 3k, or 4, definitely do all those. They're all amazing.

There's Harvest Moon like you mentioned, but the last decent one of those I remember is Magical Melody for the Gamecube...

It's turn based. Your first turns will take maybe a minute. As you expand and you have to micro-manage settlements, troops, armies, generals, money, trade, alliances, the senate (screw them, seriously), popularity, construction, taxes, navies, and a myriad of other different variables... the turns end up taking 30 minutes if you're thorough. Plus there are real time battles that are fun as hell. Lots of game play as well; you can play as three different factions of Romans as well as ~10 other cultures (including Carthage, Gaul, Britannia, and Egypt, and Greece), each of which provide a thoroughly different experience. There are also online battles, although I'm not sure how extensive they are... I'm honestly not that great at the battles (you need actual strategy to win... flanking, cavalry charges, maintaining moral, not tiring your troops out chasing, proper use of artillery and archers, etc.), and the sieges can be a nightmare to learn properly.